Shock exit comes days after George was fined for underpaying his staff

George Calombaris, Matt Preston and Gary Mehigan will not return to judge MasterChef Australia next season. Just ahead of the season 11 finale, Network 10 announced that the episode will be the last one featuring the three judges.

After 11 sensational seasons, we bid a fond farewell to our judges – Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris. Thank you for being a part of this remarkable #MasterChefAU legacy and helping make the culinary dreams of everyday home cooks come true! pic.twitter.com/uG0A3ec8jI

The network has put it down to a pay dispute. “Despite months of negotiation, 10 has not been able to reach a commercial agreement that was satisfactory to Matt, Gary and George,” said Network 10 chief executive officer Paul Anderson in a statement. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that each of the three judges was paid in excess of AU$1 million (Rs4.8 crore), and the exit comes after 10 refused to hike their wages by up to 40%.

The news comes just days after Australia’s The Fair Work Ombudsman fined George Calombaris and his company Made Establishments AU$200,000 (approx 97 lakh rupees) for underpaying staff at his restaurants by nearly AU$ 8 million. While Calombaris publicly apologised, calls to have him axed from Masterchef Australia only got louder. In response, Tourism Western Australia announced that it is pulling its ad campaign featuring Calombaris. There is no evidence yet that the two incidents are connected.

The genre-defining show, MasterChef Australia has been known to inspire multiple spin-offs and local versions, as well as give the food world now-celebrated names such as Brent Owens, Sarah Todd (a contestant who now owns Goa restaurant Antares) and Indian-origin season 10 winner Sashi Cheliah, among others.

The last episode featuring George, Matt and Gary aired in Australia earlier today. Contestant Larissa Takchi won the latest season.